• Heng has only had time to listen to one Gospel Bible study since my last letter. . His foreman has been pushing him and his co-workers to get there project done before Khmer New Year in the middle of April. We continue to seek him out though, just as God sought us out.
• Phalla has included another friend of his, Viasna, into our Gospel studies, but Nieng is pulling away and losing interest. Pray that I will be able to continue to meet Phalla at his construction site to teach him.
• Viasna has been coming to church on Wednesday very faithfully. Wang and Proh have both had opportunities to explain Christ to him.
• Meoun seem to be discouraged about his health. He is very weak. However, he also seems to be more attentive to the Gospel Bible studies. Lord willing, I will be teaching him again before noon today. March 29, 2011.
• Pu had an accident that gave him 8 stitches in his forehead, but he is still listening to the Gospel. Pu does not read, and his understanding of the truths in scripture have been slow coming. However, he does not seem to be ashamed to be studying the Bible with me. Neighbors mill around, some standing, some sitting, to find out what is going on. This is common here, especially when a white man is spewing out Khmer words. J Pray for him to understand the Gospel and trust Christ with all his heart.

Most of you who receive this letter live in America, and may be wondering why it takes so long to explain the Gospel to people in Cambodia. So… let me explain some of the barriers we face and how we attempt to remove those barriers. Today I will explain just one.

While witnessing to people during our first few years here, I would ask people, “ Who do you think God is?” Many times I received the response, “I don’t know. What is God anyway?” So, I had jumped ahead of where they were in their understanding. Khmers generally believe that there is a God, but they are not really sure what God is. The questions would come, “ Is God the sun or moon? Is He fire, water, earth, and wind? Is God a rock or a piece of wood carved into an image? Isn’t God our parents? Or is God just a spirit?”

The following truths are taught in the first couple lessons of our Gospel study.

• God in not “just” a spirit, but God is THE GREAT ALMIGHTY SPIRIT, above all other spirits.
• God is the creator of all things. Before all other things that have been falsely lifted up as God, there was the one true Creator-God.
• God is Holy. He hates sin, is not capable of sin, and therefore able to judge all sin.
• God is Love. Though He hates sin, He still loves sinful man. His love is holy and righteous. God’s unconditional love is a very difficult concept for Cambodians to accept. Injustice is a huge problem in this society. Many people believe that it is unjust for God to forgive people of their sins. Americans, generally speaking, have the opposite problem. They tend to think that God is love, and therefore God winks at sin without justice. A proper understanding of God’s holiness and God’s love will remedy these errors.

Let us continue to lift God up, even though the world continues to bring God down in their own minds.